


The Trysts of Unknown and MC

by silversky27



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Cuddling, Enemies to Friends with Benefits to Lovers, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Getting to Know Each Other, Jealousy, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, be prepared for an influx of chapters, eventual turncoat saeran, from my tumblr, why only have eleven days when you could have all of them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-20 11:02:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 50
Words: 18,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19375396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silversky27/pseuds/silversky27
Summary: Sometimes instead of flirting with a chatroom of hot people, you instead end up in a friends with benefits relationship with the guy who you're 90% positive is using you to get to said chatroom of hot people.Looks like that's a tomorrow problem for tomorrow me.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This marks the beginning of the compilation of drabbles I did on my [ tumblr ](%E2%80%9Dedgelord-saeran.tumblr.com%E2%80%9D) under the tag [ The Trysts of Unknown and MC](%E2%80%9Dedgelord-saeran.tumbr.com/tagged/the-trysts-of-unknown-and-mc%E2%80%9D) if you wanna check out the original posts and a few that didn't make it into this fic comp. 
> 
> I really hope that I manage to make a comprehensive timeline OTL
> 
> And now, the post that started it all~

47: “No one needs to know.” and 73: “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

Despite being told that she shouldn’t, she had left the apartment. Not for the first time at that. The first couple times had been for food. The apartment, having been empty, lacked food. She had messaged Seven about the problem, and she had the permission to leave. That’s what she left for. To get food.

That and other things. 

After having gotten food a few times using this method, the messenger had glitched on her and suddenly someone different was talking to her. She realized that the Unknown that was talking to her now was the same person that had lead her to the apartment.

When they wanted to meet up, she agreed, against her better judgement. She wanted to know who they were, and why they had picked her. 

That was several meetings ago. She had a feeling that Seven was going to get suspicious about her going out to eat every night, but at this point she didn’t care. 

There was something addictive about meeting up with the white haired stranger. Now, she hadn’t given him any information on the RFA like he had wanted originally. She wasn’t that stupid. But they did talk.

That and other things. 

She didn’t panic when someone grabbed her by the arm, dragging her into a nearby alley, not like she had the first time. He still had a bruise on his face from where she had punched him.

She found herself pressed against the wall, looking up at him, black mask covering his mouth and green eyes bright. 

“ **We shouldn’t be doing this.”** She said, not breaking eye contact. He reached up, and pulled his mask down, a wicked grin stretched across his features. He leaned down pressing his lips to hers before pulling back slightly, whispering against her lips.

“ **No one needs to know.”**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 40\. “Have I entered an alternate universe or did you really just crack a smile for me?”

She’d left the apartment to get food, nothing special, just fast food, but she decided to sit in the restaurant. The wall’s of Rika’s apartment were slowly going to drive her mad. 

She took a moment to check the messenger, see if there were any emails, or if anyone wanted her attention. Instead the app glitched, going green with its coding flashing across the screen. Three messages popped up.

Unknown: If someone sits across from you

Unknown: Don’t freak out.

Unknown: We need to talk.

She had barely registered the messages before a man had sat down in front of her. Dyed white hair, green eyes, and a pale complexion. And he was stealing her fries. 

“I’m guessing you’re Unknown?” She asked cautiously. She wasn’t positive on how to deal with the situation, but she also wanted to see how this would go.

“In the flesh.” He said tilting his head slightly, green eyes boring into her as he stole another one of her fries. “We need to talk. You haven’t been doing what you’re supposed to be.”

“Which is?” He glared at her.

“Giving me information on the RFA. They’ve corrupted you.”

“At what point did you tell me that?” She asked him, incredulity coloring her tone. “When you first spoke to me you asked me to find the owner of the phone, and then told me to have fun. At what point was I supposed to interpret that is information mole?” 

He stared at her blankly and then suddenly dropped his head into his hands. “Fuck!”

“I know there’s like no one here, but language.”  His icy stare returned to her, obviously not pleased with her. She shrugged, and turned back to her meal. “So don’t ask me for info now. It’s not gonna happen.” 

He stared at her for a bit longer and she could feel the anger radiating off of him. “What if I force you to come with me?”

“Oh no.” She said dryly. “The ‘being stuck in a place I don’t want to be’ adventure is going to continue.”

She heard him snort and watched as he failed to hide an amused smile. 

** “Have I entered an alternate universe or did you really just crack a smile for me? ** ” She grinned at him and his face turned pink, embarrassment flooding his features. 

“Tell you what.” She said standing up. “This is the most entertainment I’ve had today. You come talk to me again at some point, and we maybe able to work something out.”

“And what do I get out of it?” He obviously wasn’t thrilled with her leaving without him getting any information. She raised an eyebrow.

“The rest of my fries it looks like.” His face flushed red again as he realized that he had been eating her food throughout the entire conversation. He shoved the final fries in his mouth, almost in defiance, but she just laughed and made her way to the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We need to talk."

“ **We need to talk**.” 

Those words gave her anxiety, when she knew what needed to talk about. The fact that it was coming from the hacker still gave her anxiety of a different kind. 

“…oookaay?” She said trying not to show her nervousness. He didn’t scare her, but the fact that he knew exactly who she was and she had no clue about him made her uneasy. 

He turned away, walking towards the park, clearly expecting her to follow him. And she did.

“Sooo what do you need to talk about?” She couldn’t see his face through the mask he wore, but she could tell he was frowning at her. 

“You’re not following your role.” He said bluntly. She squinted at him in confusion before it hit her.

“The information mole thing?” She asked him, almost incredulous. He nodded, dead serious, and she couldn’t stop herself from laughing. 

“What?” He growled out at her.

“I already told you that I wasn’t doing that. At no point did I say I would give you information about the RFA.”

“But that is your role.” He said, frustration seeping into his tone. 

“To you maybe.” She shrugged. “To me? I’m living with the opportunity given to me. Besides, I trust them more at this point than I trust you.”

“How do I get your trust?” He asked her, grabbing her by the arm.

“You can start by letting go of me.” She said, jerking out of his grasp. “Then you can stop asking me for information.” 

He backed away from her, still studying her. He huffed, and turned and started to walk away.

“Where are you going?” She yelled after him.

“I’ll leave you alone for now.” He called back over his shoulder and then waved. “Later.”

She snorted slightly. He clearly wasn’t satisfied, but she couldn’t deny. Whatever he would come up to gain her trust would definitely be interesting. 


	4. Chapter 4

He was figuring out that she had made it her mission to keep him fed, and he wasn’t going to turn her down, especially when she was feeding him ice cream. 

They were sitting in an ice cream that they had quickly become regulars at. He was just finishing up his ice cream when a peal of thunder rumbled the store.

He had never liked thunderstorms, even when he was little. He had vivid memories of curling up with Saeyoung under a blanket, trying to block out the sound. He frowned at the memory. He didn’t need it, just like he didn’t need him.

He looked at her, and was surprised to see joy light up her eyes.

“You done?” She asked, voice eager. He nodded hesitantly and she grinned and grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the door. “Come on!”

She dragged him outside and into the pouring rain.

“ **We’re in the middle of a thunderstorm and you wanna stop and feel the rain?** ” She was smiling even as she was being drenched. She tilted her head, facing the sky.

“It feels good.” She said lightly. She then grinned at him as the thunder rang out again, and began skipping down the path, dragging him along. 

He didn’t really understand it. He wished that he could find the joy she did in the rain, but all he could feel was discomfort at his clothes getting wet. Though he didn’t understand, he could admit that she was beautiful like this. 


	5. Chapter 5

It hadn’t been long after they had first met that she had ended up running into him in the city. She hadn’t even noticed him until he shoulder checked her as he went past. 

She almost told him off, but he had spun around also in clear surprise. She held her tongue when she recognized the quick flash of fear as well as the way his eyes were red and swollen.

“Hey.” She said without thinking, grabbing onto his arm. His raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Have you eaten dinner yet?”

He shook his head, but then his brow furrowed in anger.  

“What do you think you’re doing?” He asked her, ripping his arm out of her grip. 

“Asking you to dinner? You look like you need someone right now.” He looked surprised again, and scrubbed at his eyes, making they even more red.

“Fuck off.” He muttered. “I don’t need you. I don’t need anybody.”  

“ **Look, I know we don’t know each other that well, but I’m still worried about you. No one deserves to be alone**.” She said softly. “So, let’s go to dinner. It’ll be good.”

He looked at her suspiciously, and then shoved his hands into his pockets before walking off.

“I get to choose.” He said as he walked away. She grinned, taking her victory


	6. Chapter 6

After their initial meeting, he had ended up popping up wherever she did when she went out. She had to admit, she had become used to his presence since he was the only actual human contact she had had since she had taken this job.

“You’re stalling.” He voice called her back to the present, and she sighed. They’d been wandering around. Well, she had been wandering and he had tagged along. She looked over to him.

“I don’t want to back to the apartment.”

“What? Not everything you thought it would be?” She rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t have any idea how this would be. But I’m here now, and it’s kind of boring when you only get to talk to people about every four hours.” She shoved her hands into her pockets, and jumped when she felt him wrap an arm around her shoulder.

“I’ve got a hotel room.” He said lightly, not really looking at her. “We could have some fun.”

“Are you propositioning me?” She asked him, surprised. She honestly didn’t think he really liked her.

“If you want me to be.” He said shrugging. “It’d be more entertaining than being in the apartment alone.”

She bit her lip, thinking about his offer. He was attractive, she couldn’t deny that, and she was rather fond of him, even if he was an ass on occasion. The only person who it could hurt was herself. So why not?

“Sure.” She said lightly, wrapping an arm around his waist in return. He finally looked at her, grin devilish.

“Excellent.”

And that was how she found herself, tangled in his hotel room bed. It had been better than any of the awkward fumblings she had participated in during high school, and she could definitely understand the appeal of another warm body. She felt the warmth of affection she had for him grow. 

And then instantly shatter. 

“Now about the RFA,”

“What?” She laughed awkwardly, shifting away from him.

“You got what you wanted, now you tell me what I want to know.” He said, businesslike, as if he couldn’t understand why she wasn’t already spilling everything she knew. She pushed out of bed and began collecting her clothes. 

“If you just wanted information, there were other ways to do it.” She spat out, pulling her garments back on.

“I’ve seen the way you look at me.” He said. “It felt like a good enough trade.”

She used to find it funny that men couldn’t figure out how bras worked, but in this moment, with her shaking fingers, she sort of understood. Giving up, she shoved it in the bag she had, pulling on her shirt and jacket and almost ran for the door. She only paused for a moment before she left.

“Fuck you.” She said, slamming the door behind her.

She’d been back in the apartment for only a few minutes when her phone buzzed. She answered without thinking.

“MC! Are you okay?” 

Seven. “Ah yeah. I’m good.” She said, scrubbing at her face and trying to stop herself from crying. “I just made some bad life decisions tonight.”

“Are you sure?” He sounded hesitant, and she knew she must have been a sight through the security cameras. She sucked in a breath.

“Yeah. I’m good. It won’t happen again.” She said, swearing both to herself and him. And to the man in the hotel room. Never again. 


	7. Chapter 7

She spent the next three days in the apartment, refusing to leave. She knew that this wasn’t the best method to deal with her thoughts, but she was almost afraid to leave. 

She didn’t want to run into him, and she would bet her left kidney that he would show up wherever she was if she left. So the apartment was her own little bunker. 

Eventually Seven actually kicked her out.

“You need to get out and get some food or something.” He told her over the phone. She laughed as lightly as she could.

“I’m fine! I’ve got…” She hesitated as she went through the cabinets. “Nothing. Why do I have to live in an apartment that has no food?”

“Go get some. You’re pacing is driving me crazy.” She pouted at the phone, but decided to leave. It was a trip to stock up on food, and then she wouldn’t have to leave again for awhile. Yeah. This would work. 

“Hey.” And there goes her kidney. She ducked her head down and sped up her pace, trying to out walk the man she was trying to avoid. It didn’t work, as she saw his boots enter her peripherals. “Don’t ignore me.”

“Leave me alone.” She said, continuing to walk. He grabbed her by the arm, spinning her to face him. She glare up at him. “Let go of me.”

“Look. I’m sorry.” He said, green eyes tired. She looked at him, doubt very clear in her eyes.

“Are you actually sorry? Or are you just sorry it didn’t work?” She asked him. He bit his lip slightly, and looked away from her.

“Yes. My… boss is mad at me, but that’s not why I’m apologizing.” He said, gave her an intense look. “I have missed speaking with you the past couple days. Somehow, you’ve ended up as part of my daily routine.”

“It’s cause you’re always following me.” She said plainly. 

“And not doing that has thrown me off. I want to go back to normal.” He was scowling, and it surprised her how much she had apparently affected him. She also couldn’t deny how in between never wanting to see him again, she did miss talking to him as well.

“Okay. We can do that.” She said softly. She watched as his scowl faded and she spoke again. “But tell me this. Was it really only for information or did you actually want to have sex with me?” 

“You wanna try again? No information this time.” He grinned devilishly at her and she felt a shiver go down her spine. She swore to herself that this wouldn’t happen again, but the longer she was with him, the more she felt her resolve melt away.

“You’ve got one more shot. Don’t blow it.” She said, wrapping an arm around his waist. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders in return.

 “Wouldn’t dream of it.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s too late for you to be out by yourself.”

Unknown was really going to get her in trouble one of these days. That’s what she told herself, even though she knew that it was more of her own stir-craziness that was causing her to put herself in these positions. 

For once, it as just a walk. It was dark out, but she didn’t care. Anything was better than the apartment at the moment. 

She suddenly felt an arm wrap around her waist, but before she could scream or struggle, he spoke.

“ **It’s too late for you to be out by yourself.** ” The hacker. She relaxed slightly though she wasn’t entirely sure why. She didn’t know him to well, even though she had done… things with him.

“And being with you is any better?” She quipped back. She looked up and saw his frown. It threw her off slightly.

“I need you safe. Not wandering around at night.” He said, almost scolding her. She glared at him, and shrugged his arm off of her.

“I’m not giving you information. If that’s what you’re here for, you can leave.” She was irritated, and began to walk faster. Part of her wanted him to leave her alone, but a small part wanted him to actually care. She heard him huff and continue to follow her. 

“Come with me.” She stopped and turned to look at him.

“Why should I?” 

“I know you don’t want to go back there yet. Just don’t be by yourself right now.” He seemed to be sincere and she seriously debated going with him. She finally relented.

“Fine. What are we doing then?” She walked back over to his side. He smirked, wrapping his arm back around her waist. He leaned down and whispered in her ear.

“I’m sure we can figure something out.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 36.“I wish I could hate you.

 

They were having another one of their trysts. This time she had dragged him into an ice cream shop. At his confused look, she laughed.

“What? I told them i’m getting food, so I might as well.” She pulled him over to the display freezers that contained the tubs of ice cream. “Plus I’ve had a craving for cookies and cream the past couple days.” She looked at him as he started to pull back. “Pick what you want. I’ve got it.”

He looked at her suspiciously, but ended up ordering a cup of mint chocolate chip. She snorted as they sat down.

“What?” 

“I dunno.” She said grinning. “I just find it funny that you’re a part of Mint Eye, and you’re eating mint ice cream. It just fits.”

“Shut up. It’s good.” He frowned and put a spoonful of the ice cream in his mouth. His face instantly changed, his frown turning into a soft smile. 

“Why’d you get a cup? I had you pegged as a cone man.” She wanted to know more about him.

“What does that even mean?” He asked, but at her imploring look, he continued. “It’s easier to drop on a cone. And then there isn’t anymore.” His frown had returned.

“You don’t get to have this very often, do you?” He shook his head, looking down at the ice cream in his hands. She hummed, and changed the subject. “Anyway, how was your day? What’s new?”

He shoved a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth, and then looked up at her, green eyes stormy.

“ **I wish I could hate you**.”

“What?” His sudden declaration surprised her.

“You’re keeping me from getting the information I need, but at the same time, you keep doing shit like this-” he gestured to the ice cream between them, “and asking me about my day like you care?” 

He leaned in closely. “Do you enjoy fucking with my head?”

“No?” She knew that he wasn’t the safest person to be around, but this honestly surprised her. “I enjoy our time together. I’m not fucking with you.”

“You don’t even know my fucking name.” he spat out while standing up.

“Then tell me.” She spat back.

He looked at her as if he was contemplating actually telling her. 

“Unknown.” His whispered, and then he was gone, leaving his cup of mint ice cream melting on the counter. 


	10. Chapter 10

~

After having had contact with her, he really didn’t find himself watching his feeds for her as much. But he’d been at Magenta for the past two days and hadn’t had the chance to see her. He just wanted to make sure she was doing what was most beneficial for Mint Eye. 

He idly picked at the food he’d picked up as his eyes scanned the screens. It took a moment to spot her, and he froze when he did. She was outside of a cafe, which was nothing concerning, but what was was the man sitting across from her at the table. 

Concern flared up in him, until he realized that she wasn’t being bothered by the man. In fact, she was laughing at something the man had said. He glared at the screen, feeling rage welling up inside him.

He’s not sure where his food went. It was totally irrelevant to his rapid typing. Who the fuck was she talking to?

He watched as her phone went off. She blinked down at it in surprise. The man spoke to her, drawing her attention back. She smiled at him, and placed her phone back down. 

How dare she. His rapid typing continued, followed by the rapid noise her phone made. She frowned back at the phone, and made an apologetic face at the man, before standing up and answering her phone. 

“What is your issue?” She immediately hissed into the phone.

“No hello?” He asked, trying to ignore the pleasure that welled up in him that he had her attention. She glared ahead of her. 

“I’m busy. And I feel like you know that.” She said quietly, but still harshly. 

“I know. Who is he?” He asked harshly.

“None of your business. You’re not my dad and you’re not my boyfriend.” Her voice had gotten louder.

“You see, it is my business. It’s highly in my interests to keep track of you.” Unknown told her, trying to keep his voice even.

“Listen. You know as well as I do that I’m giving you jack shit. So let me finish eating lunch with my _brother_ , you jealous asshole.” In that moment, he felt the anger flow out of him. 

“Your brother?” He asked, and he realized that even his tone had softened. 

“Yes. He had business in the area and we met up for lunch.” Her voice in return had softened. “Are you still at the same hotel room?”

“No. But I’ll be back tomorrow.” He said quietly. He could see her nod as she turned back to her table. 

“I’m gonna go. We’ll talk later?” She said softly. He confirmed quietly and finally hung up.

As he sat there, he realized how ridiculous his reaction had been. So what. They fucked.

But even the idea of her being with someone else pissed him off. 

He took a moment to be childish, spinning in his chair. He needed to focus on his work, not on how there were hours until he got to see her again.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “It’s always time for a milkshake.”

_Meet me at the park. I need you._

The message from Unknown caused her to go into a panic. She never got messages like this from him, and something terrible had to have happened for him to reach out to her. 

She quickly pulled on her shoes, throwing her essentials in her pockets before heading out into the darkness.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she set eyes on him. She ran over to him, patting him down when she reached him. It was only recently that he’d gotten mugged, so she was a little on edge. 

“Are you okay? What happened?” She looked up at him desperately, but his blank look caused confusion.

“I wanted a milkshake.” He said plainly. 

“It’s… it’s 3AM.” She said weakly.

“ **It’s always time for a milkshake.** ”  

“It’s 3AM.” She repeated, letting out a gust of air before leaning forward and pressing her forehead against his chest. 

“You okay?” He asked after a second, lightly tapping on her shoulder. 

“You had me so concerned, you jerk.” She mumbled, beating her fist against him lightly. She felt him laugh. “You need to word your texts better.”

“But I did need you. For milkshakes.” He said, and she leaned back, rolling her eyes. She hooked his hand in her own.

“C’mon. I have milkshake stuff in my apartment. A real adult blender and everything.” He laughed at her, letting her lead.

“Oh, fancy.” 


	12. Chapter 12

She was feeding him again for some reason. They were at the small family diner near the RFA apartment, and Unknown had popped up again. She didn’t know his name but that’s how he’d shown up in the messenger. It was the best she had.

He seemed to show up as soon as she went for dinner, but she was so desperate for human interaction that she was okay with him hanging around.

She glanced up from her milkshake and watched him as his jacket slid off his shoulder with his movement. It revealed a large tattoo on his shoulder.

“How long did it take to get your tattoo done?” 

Unknown looked at her blankly, but then his brow furrowed as he thought. 

“Five hours?” He said, “Maybe more. I don’t remember.”

“Damn, that had to hurt.” She said, surprised. 

“I’ve had worse.” he said with a snort. She frowned at that. They weren’t that close, but she didn’t like the idea that he’d had worse. “I’m surprised you asked though.”

“Why?” She asked. He was picking at the remaining food on his plate and then shrugged.

“Most people are pretty turned off by tattoos.” He mumbled out. 

“And that’s stupid.” She scoffed, and he looked at her in surprise. She rolled her eyes slightly, leaning back. “It’s ink on skin. A personal decision, that other people have no business in judging you.”

Unknown laughed to her surprise. 

“You have very strong feelings about tattoos, huh?” He was smirking at her.

“I have one.” She said shrugging, and his eye’s widened with interest. “And before you ask, you can’t see it.”

“You’ve seen mine.” He said frowning. 

“It’s on my ribs and I’d have to take my shirt off. So no.” 

“I don’t see the issue with that.” He said smirking again. When she huffed, he continued. “At least tell me what it is.”

“It’s a blue rose.” She said softly, and when he made an imploring noise, she continued. “I like the symbolism. Unobtainable or impossible. I was originally going to put it over my heart, but eh.”

He nodded, growing quiet. She was concerned for a moment at his silence, but then realized that he was quietly stealing the fries from her plate. 

“Why are you like this.” She glared at him, and he smirked before shoving his spoils into his mouth.

~~~~

Later on, much later on, she woke up to fingers tracing circles on her ribs on her right side. She didn’t move, trusting her bed mate. She realized that Unknown was tracing her tattoo. 

She felt her start to drift off again, and right before she fell asleep, she heard him speak.

“Unobtainable, huh?”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “That was the least romantic proposal in the entire history of proposals.”  
> “It’s forbidden for a reason, idiot.”

“I love this.” She mumbled. They had met up again, and she really couldn’t deny how much she enjoyed hooking up with the hacker. Did she know his name? No. Was he still using her? Dunno. What she does know however, is that the sex is fucking amazing. 

He snorted standing up from the bed, to make his way over towards the bathroom attached to his hotel room.

“If you love it so much, why don’t you marry it?” His voice was taunting, but that didn’t stop her from laughing. He turned back to her and glared. “What?”

“ **That was the least romantic proposal in the entire history of proposals.** ” She giggled, hugging the pillow she’d been holding closer to her chest.

His face turned red, and he began to sputter slightly.

“You- You know that’s not what I meant.” He glared at her, but she found it cute. He finally rolled his eyes, holding open the bathroom door open. “Do you want to take a shower before you head out?”

She huffed lightly, standing up, smiling slightly at the ache she felt as she began to gather her clothes. 

“ **Nope. It’s forbidden for a reason, idiot.** ” She said lightly, greatly pleased with the bafflement on his face.

“And that reason is?” He asked. She giggled as she finished dressing and pulled her shoes one. She gave him a sly look.

“Cause then I’d really have to marry you~”  


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I come here whenever I need a quiet place to think…to sort my head out.”

Of all the places she thought she would find him, inside a tube of the children’s play set at the park was not one of those places. 

 He raised an eyebrow when she crawled in with him.

“What are you doing here?” Unknown asked her, looking at her with his head pressed against his curled up knees.

“I was looking for you. And here you are.” She said with a small smile, taking the same position as him as she wrapped her arms around her knees. “What are you doing here?”

“I come here whenever I need a quiet place to think…to sort my head out.” Unknown said quietly, leaning his head back against the plastic tunnel. 

“Oh. Do you want me to leave?” She asked him quietly. 

“Nah. You’re good.” He said softly. He then smirked at her. “Just be quiet if you can manage it.”

“Fight me.” She said, pushing his arm slightly as he grinned. She didn’t know what he needed to clear his head about, but for now she wouldn’t push him. Being here with him in this plastic tunnel was good enough. 

“Maybe later. For now, it’s quiet time.”


	15. Chapter 15

Seven had an ongoing list of reasons to distrust the new member of the RFA. It was long, and many of the entries were related to the mystery man she continued to meet up with.

It wasn’t hard to put together that this was the same guy she had been upset about towards the beginning of her time with the RFA, but her relationship with him seemed to have mellowed out. A far cry from what she had called “a bad life decision.”

Seven also couldn’t find anything on the man. Whenever the two were out in public, he always had a hood up and seemed to have an almost supernatural talent in preventing security camera’s from seeing his face.

It didn’t help that she had connections to the hacker somehow, but even Seven couldn’t deny that the hacker hadn’t been active at all in the past week.

At least she had stopped telling him half-truths about only leaving Rika’s apartment to get food. For the most part, he had no problem accepting those half-truths. He’d watched her in the apartment, pacing like a caged tiger. She had finally told him that she wanted to sleep in her bed, and he couldn’t deny her that. She was a new member, not their captive.

She’d also never brought her mystery man to the apartment either, so he couldn’t claim that she was giving him information.

V had given her his approval, and Seven trusted his judgement. He stared at the frozen CCTV footage, only showing the top of a hood looking down at the smiling girl. 

God, he hoped V’s judgement was good.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Why the hell are you bleeding!?”

He was late. Well, she guessed he was late. Typically when they met up he had always found her, most likely trying to keep up his mysterious airs, but he hadn’t this time. 

So she was sitting on a swing set in the nearby park, swaying back and forth, debating on how much longer she would wait for him. It turns out, not much longer. 

He emerged from the trees, holding his arm stiffly to his side. He had shed his jacket, which she found odd. It was actually cold out tonight. It made sense when he finally got closer, and she got a good look at his arm.

There was a cut running down his forearm and blood sluggishly ran down and off the tips of his fingers. She leapt off of the swing, moving towards him quickly. Despite having been walking towards her, he flinched at her sudden movement. She reached out to him, pulling his arm up.

“ **Why the hell are you bleeding!?** ” He scoffed at her attention, but replied.

“Some idiot tried to mug me.” She looked away from his arm and up at him, concern growing on her expression. He huffed. “He’s much worse off then me. Trust me.”

“Please tell me you didn’t kill him.” She said.

“No, Miss Goody-Two Shoes. He’s fine. For the most part.” He rolled his eyes at her, but she didn’t care. She went back to looking at the cut. 

“Fuck.” She whispered. “This needs to be looked at.”

He attempted to jerk his arm away from her, but she held fast. “No hospitals.”

“That’s fine.” She said, eyes scanning his wound and then the park path. “We can go to my apartment. I have emergency supplies there.”

“Are you sure?” He was clearly surprised, and she realized her wording.

“My apartment. Not the RFA one.” She explained, and then laughed at him teasingly. “I may care about you, but I’m not taking you there.”

“Just wanted to make sure.” He said, pouting. She grinned at him, and then began to lead him down the path in the direction of her apartment.

“Maybe after we get you fixed up, we can do something else. You know, not in an alleyway for once.” She smiled slyly at him. “I have until midnight before I turn into a pumpkin, you know.”

He still found her ridiculous and definitely still didn’t understand, but he found that it felt nice. Having someone who cared.  


	17. Chapter 17

She hadn’t expected him to still be in the bed by the time she’d returned from the bathroom. They’d only stayed at her apartment a few times, but each time he’d disappear almost as soon as they were done.

She’d wandered back into her room, not bothering to get dressed further than putting her underthings back on when she glanced back over to her bed to see mint green eyes watching her. Without thinking, she made to move to cover herself with her arms.

 **“I have long since become desensitized to you walking around in just your underwear.”** He snorted at her movement, and she rolled her eyes, dropping her arms.

“ **You wish you could have a piece of this** ”  She laughed at him, making a silly pose. He rolled his eyes at her.

“Uh-huh.” He moved so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching as she moved around the small room. “Me and everyone else.”

“That’s funny.” She said with a laugh, and he raised an eyebrow with disbelief. “What?”

 **“I don’t think you realize just how many people want to date you…I mean you’ve got a queue longer than the one to get into Glastonbury”** He said, pulling her to stand between his legs. She ran a hand through his hair, grinning slightly as he leaned into it. 

“And I’m the Queen of England.” She said, pushing him slightly, and he let himself gall back, pulling her with him so that she was straddling him.

“I’ve seen the way they talk to you in the messenger. They want you.” He said slyly and interrupted her as she opened her mouth to refute. “But you’re mine.” He growled, biting her neck.

She gasped, not entirely from the pain.

“That’s one way to stake your claim.” She said lightly, touching the bite lightly with her finger. She could tell that there was a bruise already forming. He gave her a devilish grin. 

“I’m nowhere near done.”


	18. Chapter 18

They were in her apartment, having eaten a quick meal (It was fun to introduce him to things he’d never had. Like McDonald’s apparently), and she fully intended to dig out her game system. He’d never had McDonald’s, so maybe he hadn’t played Mario Kart either. 

Her plans changed almost immediately after she walked through the door. She’d toed off her shoes and turned back towards him to tell him about her plan. He was instantly on her, kissing her fiercely. 

She made a noise of alarm and pulled back slightly. He didn’t let this stop him, as he just moved to kissing the underside of her jaw instead. 

“Hey, stop it.” She told him, pushing him back. He pulled back and looked at her in confusion.

“But I thought you liked this?” He mumbled.

The look on his face struck her. It wasn’t the expression of a man being denied of what he wanted. It was almost pure confusion.

“I do, but not right now.” She told him, and his confusion only faded for a moment. “I figured we could play video games or something.”

“But why?” His face was scrunched up, but it didn’t sooth the sting of his words.

“Because I don’t want to feel like you’re only here for the sex.” She said bluntly, pulling away from him. She looked at his head on, unwilling to falter. “So you can either lie to me and make me feel better, or you can leave.”

He was silent for a moment, but nodded.

“I’m not going to lie.” He said, and moved back toward the door, and she felt her heart break. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but she closed her eyes, not letting herself watch him walk away.

The sound of her door closing never came. There was a gentle touch on her shoulder and her eyes flew open.

“You okay?” He asked her, face gentle, eyes imploring. His now shoeless feet had barely made any noise as he walked back to her. She smiled at him, relief clear on her face. 

“Yeah.” She said, voice breathy. “I’m wonderful.”


	19. Chapter 19

He knew he needed to leave. They had already made the mistake of falling asleep together instead of her headed back to the other apartment and him leaving immediately after they were done. But here they were.

He looked at her sleeping face and had the realization that if he stayed any longer, he would make so many more mistakes because of this girl. He made up his mind. He began to get up, to get out, to leave her behind, to try and get his  ~~heart~~  head back from wherever she taken it.

He was stopped though. His movement must have woken her up slightly, because she immediately latched onto his waist, preventing him from going anywhere. 

 **“No, I’m not letting you go. It’s too early to get out of bed.”**  She buried her face in his bare back.

“I need to go.” He said quietly. She whined again, scrubbing her face against him. He felt himself smile, despite his wishes. He ran a hand through her hair, finally giving in.  **“You’re so cute when you’re half asleep like this..”**

He felt her grin against her back. “So you’ll stay?”

He huffed, shifting so that he could lay back on the bed. She shifted with him, laying against his chest.

“For now.”


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wait a minute. Are you jealous?”

They had ended up in her apartment again. She had given Seven an excuse that wasn’t actually an excuse this time. If she had to wear the same set of clothes one more time she was going to scream.

(There seemed to be a lot of those things recently.)

She had met up with him in the park.

“People are gonna call the cops if you keep skulking around like that.” She teased.

“It’s a good thing you’re here then.” He said, smirking back.

They had settled in front of her TV, a bag of clean clothes sat next to the door. Her phone rang and Yoosung’s profile picture popped up. Unknown had glanced at it and sneered.

“You gonna answer that?” She glared at him and pointedly answered the call.

“Noona!” Unknown looked at her incredulously, surprised that she had actually answered. She smirked at him, and then turned her attention back to her phone. 

“Yoosung! What’s up?” And with that, Yoosung started to prattle about his day. She heard Unknown make a huffing noise, but wouldn’t look at him. She talked to Yoosung for a few more minutes, before gently reminding him of homework he needed to do. He whined, but hung up, wishing her a goodnight.

She finally looked over to Unknown and saw how he had sunk into the couch, arms crossed and staring at the ceiling. When she stopped talking, he lazily looked over to her.

“You done talking, Noona?” His words were light, but his eyes were hard. 

“Don’t call me that.” She said with a huff, leaning over to poke him. “And yes, Mister nosy.”

“So he can call you that, but I can’t?” His tone was no longer friendly, and she frowned.

“I’m pretty sure you’re older than me.” She said quietly, but then it clicked and she smirked. “ **Wait a minute. Are you jealous?** ”

“N-no!” A flush filled his face, and he turned away from her. 

“You are!” She said smiling. He looked over at her frowning.

“Shut up!” He said, and pushed her back onto the couch and hovered over her. She giggled.

“How old are you anyway?” She asked.

“21.” 

“Looks like I am your noona then.” She said smiling when the blush returned to his face. 


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re so beautiful.”

He was startled to find how attached to her he had become. They hadn’t been doing anything special, just wandering in the park, when the light had filtered through the trees and across her face just so.

“ **You’re so beautiful.** ” He whispered out. She paused, looking at him in slight confusion. He froze as he realized what he had said. “I- I mean. You-”

“Are you okay?” She asked, walking back to where he had stopped, and took his hand in her own. 

“I’m fine. I didn’t say anything. Are you okay?” He was stammering his words, his normal cool broken. 

“It’s okay.” She said softly. “I heard you the first time. You’re pretty beautiful too.”

A flush filled his face, and her soft smile remained. He huffed, looking away from her. 

“Come on.” He said, turning away from her and tugging her along by the hand. “If we don’t hurry up the ice cream store is gonna close.”

He would forever deny the way that her following laughter made his heart tighten.


	22. Chapter 22

She hadn’t been expecting anything for her birthday. She hadn’t bothered to mention it in the messenger, so many other things were happening when did she have time?

But when she went out for dinner that night, she found him there with a small box. 

“Unknown?” She called out to him and he looked up in surprise, despite the fact that she was 90% sure that he’d been waiting for her. His face instantly colored and he looked away, embarrassed to be caught off guard. “What’s up?”

“Your… birthday.” He mumbled quietly, before looking up in determination ans thrusting the box towards her. “Happy birthday.”

She took the box from him cautiously, opening it. She couldn’t prevent the small gasping noise she made. Sitting in the box was a necklace with a charm that had little bell-shaped flowers. 

“It’s beautiful.” She said softly, and looked up at him. “You got this for me?”

“Duh.” He said, smirking at her slightly. “It’s a lily of the valley. I have a… fondness for them…” He trailed off at the end, and she had a feeling that it would be better off not to push him on it.

“Put it on me.” She told him, handing him the box before turning around. His hands seemed hesitant, but he got the necklace clasped, and spun her back to face him.

“Beautiful, princess.” He said, trying to cover up his affection with a smirk. She tugged on his arm.

“Now take me to dinner, my prince!” She laughed as he obliged, looping his arm through her own.

She was happy. Her night had turned out better than she thought it ever would.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You smell like a wet dog.”

She had started spending more time at her apartment. She honestly didn’t see much of a point in staying in Rika’s apartment. She couldn’t use any of the information in the apartment and she could connect to the messenger just as easily from her own apartment. 

It was like having an office. That nobody could know about. And that she sometimes slept in. 

It was a rainy day when there was a sudden pounding on her door. Judging on how her life was going recently, there was a 99% chance that it was the hacker. She opened the door, finding herself correct.

“Can I help you?” She asked, and he scowled at her. She moved to the side, allowing him to stomp past. He was absolutely drenched and hesitated in her entryway. She laughed lightly, walking back into the house. “I’ll get you a towel”

“Thank you,” he mumbled.

“No problem.” She said with grin, before pausing right next to him. She scrunched up her nose. “ **You smell like a wet dog.** ” 

“I’m trying to fix that.” He glared at her, pushing her further into the apartment as she laughed.

“Go ahead and strip.” She said lightly, returning with a towel. He took it from her, raising an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes. “Not like that. I’m getting you a new set of clothes.”

“Sure you are.” He snorted, running the towel through his hair. 

“Besides,” she started, making her way back into her room for a pair of sweats and a shirt that would hopefully fit, “I’m not sleeping with you when you smell that bad.”

She laughed at the indigent noise he made as she disappeared into her room.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I ran out of gas, and I have no fucking idea where I am. Can you please come help me?”

“Fuck.” She muttered as her car failed to start again. 

She’d driven out to meet with her friend for lunch. She hadn’t realized how low on gas she had been when she’d left, and it really didn’t help that the directions she’d been given were absolute garbage.

“’Take this short cut, MC! It’ll get you home faster!’” She said in a high pitched voice as she dug in her bag for her phone. “Faster my ass. All I am is lost.”

She unlocked her phone and stared at her contact list. Who should she call? She knew that Jumin would most likely send a car for her if she asked, but if she was being honest, she wasn’t sure how quickly she’d be able to get in contact with him. And if she was being honest, she didn’t want to bother the others.

She grinned, suddenly realizing the one person that answered whenever she called.

“Unknown~ I need you~” She said, as soon as he picked up.

“It’s the middle of the day. Do you miss me that badly?” He flirted back.

“That and  **I ran out of gas, and I have no fucking idea where I am. Can you please come help me?** ” She said. There was silence on the other side of the phone. “Unknown?”

“I should hang up on you.” He said, mood clearly gone sour.

“Please don’t.”

“Do you know how to send me your location on your phone?” He finally sighed.

“No.” She mumbled. He huffed again.

“Give me a second.” He mumbled. She pulled the phone away from her ear to see it flash green with code. “Got it. I’ll be there in about 20 minutes.”

He still sounded slightly annoyed and she bit her lip.

“Sorry.” she mumbled.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll just have to make it up to me.” He said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. She smiled softly as well.

“I will.” She promised him.


	25. Chapter 25

She had to stop being surprised at the states he showed in at her apartment.

“You look absolutely miserable,” She said as soon as she saw him. He glared at her, but it was truly more of a pout as he sniffled. She moved away from the door, gesturing him in. “C’mon, sneezy.”

“You’re so mean.” He mumbled as he walked in. She laughed, herding him into her bedroom. He immediately took up residency in the middle of her bed. She smiled softly as he made himself comfortable, shedding his walls. 

She took care of other tasks that she needed to take care of in her apartment as he dozed in her room. 

“Hey,” she said, kneeling next to the side of her bed. His eyes cracked open slightly, unfocused but still trained on her face, “I’m gonna head to bed-”

“ **There’s only one bed.** ” He mumbled, cutting her off. “You’ll get sick.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m gonna sleep on the couch.” She said, pleased that with even as sick as he was, he was still concerned about her.

“’S your bed though.” His brow was furrowed, and he suddenly started trying to sit up. “Couch.” he mumbled. 

She laughed, pressing him back. “I’ll stay here if you want.” She offered him.

He nodded, forgetting his concern of getting her sick in favor of human contact. She laid down with him, and he curled into her side, drifting off almost immediately. 

She smiled softly ad she ran a hand through his slightly sweaty hair. She didn’t like that he was sick, but the cuddling wasn’t something she’d turn down.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Isn’t this, like, illegal?”   
> “Probably.”
> 
> “I have a feeling we should kiss.”  
> “Is that a good feeling or a bad feeling?”

While Unknown didn’t like talking about his own childhood, he did like to hear about hers. She had said something about having swam a lot in her childhood, but hadn’t in a long time, and he got a sparkle in his eye. 

“C’mon.” He had said, suddenly taking her by the hand and dragging her off.

And now she stood outside of a building housing an indoor pool as Unknown broke the lock on the door.

“ **Isn’t this, like, illegal?** ” She asked.

“ **Probably.** ” He said shrugging as the lock finally snapped. He grabbed her by the hand again, pulling her into the building. As the smell of chlorine hit her, so did the nostalgia. She followed him through the lobby, ending up next to the pool.

He dropped her hand, and began to pull off his jacket, and didn’t stop there.

“What are you doing?” She asked him in surprise. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Going swimming.” He said, stripping down to his briefs. He walked over to her and grabbed the bottom of her shirt. When she had nodded, he pulled it off over her head. She then tugged her jeans off and as she stood there in her underwear, she looked over and saw how the pool lights played over his face. 

 **“I have a feeling we should kiss.** ” He looked over at her in surprise.

“ **Is that a good feeling or a bad feeling?** ” He asked. She walked over to where he stood next to the pool, and placed a hand on his chest. He smiled and began to lean down to press his lips against hers. 

Before he could, she shoved forward. His eyes flew open in shock as he lost his balance, falling backwards into the water. She laughed when he surfaced again, glaring at her.

“Bad feeling.” She said with a smirk. It was instantly wiped from her face as Saeran grabbed her by the ankle, yanking her into the pool. She yelped as she hit the water, but his arms wrapped around her, pulling her back up.

He smirked at her. “What feeling are you having now?”

“A good one.” She said, leaning up and kissing him. She pulled back to his satisfied look. She smiled. “C’mon. Let’s swim.”  


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You should break up with him/her/them”

They had gone out for ice cream before their venture through the park, and being quite honest, she wasn’t in the best mood. Despite his general obliviousness to emotion, Unknown somehow picked up on it. 

“What’s your issue?” He asked suddenly, taking a lick from his cone. It was him, but she decided to play with him a little.

“Well, there’s this guy.” She said wistfully, playing up her tone. She heard a slight crunch noise.

“Shit.” He muttered, looking at the cone in his hand. There was a clear pressure crack in it, and she silently handed him her empty bowl. He scowled as he took it, dumping his ruined cone inside. “Go on.” he gritted out.

“I don’t know.” She said, trying to stop herself from laughing. She turned so that the was looking up at the stars instead of at him. “He’s made it clear that he’s here to stay, but at the same time is really flighty. He pops in and out without warning and doesn’t really bother to inform me about it.”

“I keep spending money on him, and he never does anything for me in return. I feel like that makes me sound selfish, but giving all the time really puts a strain on you.” She glanced over at him, watching as his frown deepened. 

“But I like his company, and he’s hot as hell.” She added, looking over at him with a wolfish grin. Anger flashed in his eyes for a second and the cup in his hand looked dangerously close to collapsing. 

“ **You should break up with him**. He sounds more trouble than he’s worth.” Unknown said, face suddenly indifferent. She stopped in her tracks, causing him to stop as well, looking back at her with confusion.

“Unknown, I’m breaking up with you.” She said in all seriousness. His confusion increased for a moment, but she could pinpoint the exact moment he made the connection.

“You little shit.” He said, walking back over to her, tugging her into a tight hold, she didn’t fight him, giggling as he leaned down, speaking directly into her ear. “I can do something for you in return.” He said, nipping her softly.

“You have a lot to make up for.” She said with a grin, eager to see how this would go. 


	28. Chapter 28

She was never quite clear on where she stood with him. Most of their meetings were pleasant. They would hang out, eat dinner, do… other things, but there were some times where it came crashing down.

They had met up for dinner, which she had bought. From what she understood, his boss didn’t actually know where he was, so he didn’t have access to the funds he normally had. When they had left, heading towards her apartment, she had handed him her spare key.

“So you actually have a place to sleep tonight.” She said shrugging. “Besides you’re there most of the time anyway.”

He stared at the key in his hand in distrust, and he looked up at her, same distrust in his eyes. “What do you want?”

“I don’t know what you mean.” She paused looking at him in confusion. Her answer clearly wasn’t what he had wanted, and the distrust turned to anger.

“What. Do. You. Want?” He held the key up to her face. “You’re buying me dinner and shit and now you’re giving me the key to your apartment? People don’t just do that.” 

“Yeah? Well I do.” She said trying to shrug it off. She knew that she was getting attached to him but she wasn’t going to let him know. Part of her still knew that he was using her. He grabbed her by her arm, and she felt his fingers dig into the muscle. “Hey! That hurts!”

“Then just tell me what you want!” Desperation had crept into his tone as he spun her to face him.

“ **The only thing I want is you!** ” She said, surprising the both of them. The desperation on his face quickly disappeared, leaving tears that began to fall down his face.

“No one wants just me.” He said quietly. She reached up, cupping his face and using her thumbs to wipe away his tears. 

“I do.” She whispered, and he leaned down, burying his face into her neck. She stood there and held him. As long as he needed. 


	29. Chapter 29

He was being distant today, and she knew that she was part of the cause. He hadn’t told her much, but from what he had said, Unknown really looked up to his boss. His boss who was currently displeased with him for his failure at information gathering. The information that she herself held.

She bit her lip as she watched him, slouched over on her couch, staring straight ahead like there was nothing else in the room. They had been in the apartment for the past hour or so, and typically by now they had gotten into something, whether it be a movie or each other.

She walked over plopping down on the couch next to him. He never moved and she frowned. 

“Hey.” She said reaching out and poking him. Nothing. She did it again. “I’m gonna have to go back to the RFA apartment soon.”

She pouted as he still didn’t move. “Heyyyyy.” She said again, whining slightly, poking him rapidly for as long as she held out the word. He finally looked over at her and she smiled in victory.

“What do you think you’re doing?” He asked her.

“ **I’m not going to stop poking you until you give me some attention.** ” She said, poking him again to make her point. He smiled slightly.

“There are other things you could do to get my attention.” He said slyly, and she felt the blush on her cheeks.

“Wasn’t sure if you wanted that attention right now.” She said softly. He reached over and pulled her into his lap.

“From you?” He said smiling. “I’ll take that attention any time.” 


	30. Chapter 30

She had to admit, getting the normally scowling man flustered made her increasingly happy.  She had dragged him out shopping, slowly increasing the locations they went to. She knew that Seven could probably track her using security cameras, but he didn’t know who the man she was with was. Hell, she barely knew who the man she was with was.

Regardless, she wanted to get him something different to wear. Every time she had seen him he had been wearing the same thing and by now, he had to be feeling a bit gross. 

She dragged him into a story that she knew she could afford.

“I don’t know why you’re doing this.” He fussed as she threw a pile of clothes into his arms and shoved him towards a changing room.

“Because you need it. Now try these on.” He wouldn’t budge as she pushed him, as he looked at her in confusion. 

“Are you sure?” He asked

“Absolutely.” She nodded, pushing him again, and this time he went in. She sat down on one of the available seats outside of the room, and the shop attendant attempted to strike up a conversation.

“He hard to shop for?” MC laughed lightly.

“He just doesn’t think he deserves it.” She said softly. The attendant looked surprised.

“That’s sad.” 

“It is. But he deserves everything, I think.” The attendant placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled gently. 

“I’ll be waiting up front.” MC nodded, and then she was alone, waiting for Unknown to emerge.  

When he did, it was in a pair of jeans and a sweater. As she looked over him, she decided that the sweater fit him nicely, but that the jeans were possibly too tight.

“Hey.” He suddenly said, drawing her attention from the jeans.

“Yeah?”

“ **I saw that. You just checked me out.** ”  He say, scowl firmly in place, but she could hear the teasing in his voice.

“What are you gonna do about it?” She asked, raising an eyebrow. It was difficult to keep a straight face as his face flushed a deep red, but he sauntered over to her in what she had determined as definitely too tight jeans.

“I’ll show you when we get home.” He whispered into her ear. She shivered, but also noticed what he had called her apartment. Home.

“I’m counting on it.” She said with a grin. 


	31. Chapter 31

Unknown was gone when she woke up. It didn’t surprise her, neither of them were actually supposed to have stayed the night at her apartment. After a hurried call to Seven explaining that she had accidentally fallen asleep at her apartment (he had laughed it off, understanding the hold of a personal bed had), she decided what she was going to do for the rest of the day. 

She didn’t want to go back to Rika’s apartment, and decided that it would be easy enough to work from home. She stretched her arms out, and got out of bed, making her way around the room, picking up the clothes that littered the floor, scattered from their earlier activities. 

To her surprise, Unknown came back within a few hours, bag of food in hand. To His surprise, she was wearing his shirt. 

“You look cute.” She said smiling at him. He was wearing one of the sweaters they had bought yesterday. He was still staring at her.

“ **Are you wearing my shirt?** ” He asked her in confusion. She looked down at herself. She realized that the shirt she had picked up this morning, in fact, was not hers.

“ **You left your shirt at my house**.” She said defensively. “ **It’s mine now.** ” 

“I wasn’t planning on being gone forever.” He said rolling his eyes, placing his bag on the counter. 

“Yeah, well. It’s the first thing I grabbed this morning.” She pouted. He laughed at her.

“Well, clothes thief, do you want pancakes?”

“Yes, please.” She said smiling, and wrapped her arms around his waist. He smiled and kissed her on the top of the head. 

“Only if you give me my shirt back.” He bargained. She sighed dramatically.

“I guess we’ll starve then.” He laughed. 


	32. Chapter 32

She hadn’t put much effort into hiding her relationship with Unknown if she was being quite honest. She went out every night, never spent anytime in the apartment anymore, and had never paid attention to staying out of the way of cameras. 

But this time, she was being a good girl. She was actually in the apartment, using the ancient desktop computer to look up Rika’s records when she received a phone call from Seven.

“What’s up?” She asked him, prepared for a grandiose role play to start.

“MC!” The urgency in his voice threw her off. “I’ve been keeping an eye on your apartment, since you told me that you had been sleeping there. A hooded man just broke in? It’s not safe to go there tonight.”

MC laughed awkwardly. She wasn’t sure how to explain Unknown’s presence. ‘Remember that poor life decision I made? There he is!’. Nope. That wasn’t going to work.

“It’s fine, Seven.” She said as nonchalantly as possible. Seven made a small sound of doubt, and she continued. “He’s a friend from high school. He’s checking on the apartment for me since I haven’t been in a while. It’s fine.”

“You were there the other day.” Seven said lightly. Shit. Uhhhhh

“He still has a key, and he’s probably stopping by for lunch or something. I don’t mind.” She insisted.

“What’s his name?” 

“Are you really doing this?” She asked, becoming increasingly defensive. “Do you not trust me?”

“I just-” 

“I trust him. That should be good enough. There isn’t anything RFA related in that apartment unless I’m there, if that’s what you’re so worried about.” Her voice was harsh and there was silence from Seven. “Are we good?”

“Yeah. Sorry… I was just worried.” Seven’s voice was soft.

“It’s okay. Just trust me, okay?” Her voice was soft in return. They spoke for a few more minutes, but the mood of the conversation was still awkward, so it wasn’t long until they hung up.

She sighed as she sat back. She was lying to him and asking him to trust her. Never before had Unknown felt like such a dirty little secret. 


	33. Chapter 33

She realized that she was in a mood when she arrived back at her apartment that night. Unknown was in her kitchen, looking contemplatively at his phone. She didn’t say anything, just walked up behind him, pressing her face into his back. She felt him laugh.

“Either something is wrong, or you’re being needy.” He teased her, turning around. His eyes widened slightly when he saw her face. “Oh shit. Something is wrong. What’s going on?” 

“It’s just…” She trailed off, but bit he lip and continued. “Seven kind of made me mad today”

To her surprise, he immediately grabbed her by the arms, immobilizing her so that she would look at him.

 **"You know I’ll kill him if he hurts you.”**  Unknown said, eyes blazing, and in that moment, she was slightly afraid. She realized that while she didn’t talk about the RFA members often, bringing up Seven was the surefire way to make him angry.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. It’s just me being sensitive.” She said, trying to brush it off. His eyes narrowed slightly, and she tried to change the subject before he could speak again. “By the way, what were you doing?”

He blinked in surprise, entirely thrown off his track. 

“Looking up something for dinner. I wanted to cook for you.” He said lightly, and to both of their surprise, she immediately started crying. “What-”

“  **…Why? Why are you being… so nice to me? I can’t understand. I can’t understand! I just can’t understand…** “ She mumbled out. “Your boss is mad at you because of me, you can’t get the information you need because of me, and I’m pretty sure you can’t go home because of me”

“Because, for some reason,” he started, pulling her into his arms, “I care about you. A lot. And that makes it okay.”

She laughed into his chest, but then tipped her head up so she could make sure his expression matched what he was saying. His smile was gentle, and he leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. 

It was okay. She trusted him on that.


	34. Chapter 34

She’d thought that she would need to be careful about not mentioning her new friend in the RFA chatroom, but as it turns out, they rarely asked her anything about herself.

She found herself giving commentary or advice on the various going-ons of the members and that worked for her. To her surprise, Yoosung was the on that broke the normal pattern.

Yoosung: MC! You’re so good with stuff like this! 

Yoosung: How do you do it?

ZEN: A secret boyfriend?  
ZEN:

She froze for a moment. Zen was almost on the mark. What was the term for ‘guy that you’re pretty sure is trying to use you but you also fuck’?

MC: You know it~

ZEN: Really??

Yoosung: She clearly meant that as a joke.

Yoosung: Right MC?

Bless the heavens above for Yoosung and his innocence. She began to type again, thanking Yoosung again for giving her an out when her phone suddenly disappeared from her hand.

“Hey!” She yelled, looking up to find Unknown rapidly typing something before throwing the phone to the side. 

“Pay attention to me.” He said, pushing her back onto the bed where she had been sitting.

“There’s better ways to get my attention.” She gasped out as he attacked her neck.

“This was the quickest.” He said, and she could feel him smirk against her. She wanted to be mad, but it was so easy to get swept away by him.

~

MC: Nope~

MC: He’s here~

MC: Got to go- bye! <3 <3 <3 <3

Yoosung: :>

 


	35. Chapter 35

She’d woken up in the middle of the night, and slowly extracted herself from his arms. After checking that she hadn’t woken him up (she had to stop herself from laughing at his disgruntled look before he buried his face into her pillow), she went into the bathroom. 

She yawned, washing her hands after doing her business and looked in the mirror. She instantly found herself more awake. 

Her jaw dropped as her eyes trailed over her own skin taking in every bruise and dark mark. She was amazed that she hadn’t noticed him making them. She tilted her head, pressing on a mark low on her neck, hissing at the pain.

She left the bathroom, jumping onto the bed to make sure he woke up. He jerked awake, eyes wide with panic until he realized where he was and who he was with.

“Can I help you?” He asked her slowly after she didn’t explain her reasoning for waking him up. She scowled at him.

“ **Why did you do this to me, you bastard??** ” She demanded pointing to one of the many marks on her. His eyes grew wide as he took in the marks.

“Whoa.” He said quietly, gingerly reaching up and running a finger over one.

“Whoa?” She asked him, and he grinned at her, almost childlike.

“I didn’t realize they would show up so quick. Or so dark!” He whispered wonder clear in his tone. She rolled her eyes, huffing as she flopped back down onto the bed.

“I’m mad at you.  **Stop being so cute.** ” He didn’t respond verbally, but he did wrap his arms back around her, pressing a kiss to the back of her neck, where she could feel him smile.

She fell back asleep to the feeling of fingers tracing the marks along her skin.


	36. Chapter 36

Normally, if he ever went to her apartment, it was after she had invited him. However, this time he found he couldn’t get in contact with her. 

He wasn’t going to say that he was worried. He was just… making sure that his investment in her wasn’t going to waste. 

Normally she responded within a few hours. But she hadn’t, and now he found himself standing in front of her door, pulling out the kit he had, praying that her neighbors wouldn’t show up while he was breaking in.

He made quick work of the lock, pushing in the door. She better have a good reason for not responding to him. 

The main room of the apartment was empty and he wandered towards her bedroom. He stuck his head in, feeling instant relief when he saw the bundled up lump in her bed. 

“Hey,” he called out, frowning as he walked closer, ready to fuss at her. He paused when she didn’t respond and looked closer at the lump. She was curled up under her blankets, breathing heavily through her mouth.

“What’s wrong…” He mumbled, placing his hand gently on her forehead. She groaned, tilting her head into his hand. He winced at the heat radiating off of her forehead. 

He bit his lip. He had no idea what to do for her.  ~~He’d never been the caregiver.~~

When he brought his hand away, her eyes finally peaked open. She squinted at him.

“Un…known?” She said quietly. 

“Your’s truly.” He said softly, bringing his hand back to her face.  

“What’re you doing here?” She mumbled, pressing her face back into his hand. “Cool…” She mumbled.

“You weren’t responding to my messages.” He told her. 

“You were worried.” She said, small grin appearing on her face. He rolled his eyes. 

“How do I make you better?” He asked her. 

“Can’t do much.” She mumbled. “‘S gotta run it’s course.” She paused for a second, face scrunching up. “I think I’m hungry though…”

“I can do that.” He said, nodding to himself. That wouldn’t be too hard. Broths right? That’s what he’d been given as a child. 

“Thank you.” She mumbled, pressing her face back into the pillow. He left her room, heading into her kitchen to put something together for her. 

He’d never taken care of someone before. And with her? He couldn’t fuck this up.”

~

(By the way, how did you get in?”

“I may… have broken in.”

“…You know you have the spare.”)


	37. Chapter 37

She had been sitting in the middle of her floor when Unknown walked in, smiling to himself as he used the key she had gifted him with not too long ago. He paused, surveying the destruction that seemed to originate from the mouth of her closet.

“What did you do?” He asked, and her head shot up, apparently unaware that he’d even walked in. 

“Cleaning out the closet. I’ve accumulated some things.” She said brightly, leaning forward again to dig around. He came over, stepping around the piles of things to find a clear spot to sit.

“Find anything exciting?” He asked, reaching over to grab at what appeared to be a stack of notebooks. Almost instantly he was hit by a shoe. “What the fuck.”

“Don’t touch those. They need to be burned.” She said in all seriousness and he laughed.

“So definitely something exciting.” He teased her, and she shook her head, turning back to the closet. She made a small noise of discovery, before leaning back with a thick book in her hands. 

She cracked it open, and several pictures fell out into her lap. Her attention was taken from the book as she picked up the photos, flipping through them.

“ **I haven’t seen these photos in _years_** _._ ” She murmured. He leaned over to look as well. Obviously the only person he recognized in the photos was her, but she looked happy, laughing with another girl. He glanced up at her face.

“Are you okay?” She looked sad. She blinked in surprise, but then pursed her lips, placing the photos back into the book and then placed it on top of the plie of notebooks.

“I’m fine.” She said quietly.

“You don’t look fine.” He said, tugging on her arm gently so that she was situated in his arms. She settled into him without complaint. 

“I haven’t talked to any of them in years. Not since high school. Best friends and sisters for life and all that jazz.” She laughed bitterly. She looked up at him, and then without warning pushed him over.

He grunted in pain when a shoe ended up jabbing him in the kidney, but he had to focus more on her, as she was suddenly straddling him.

“Let’s do something else.” she said, pressing her hands against his chest, leaning closer to initiate a kiss. 

“You don’t want to clean up?” He asked, clearly not expecting her to take him up on that, as he closed the distance, deepening the kiss almost instantly.

“Later” She said finally, leaning back so she could pull her shirt off over her head. He grinned slyly, placing his hands on her bared hips.

“Sounds good.” He said, and she leaned forward again, sealing their plans for the night.


	38. Chapter 38

He hated her sometimes. It wasn’t all the time, but it was often enough when he was around her that the intrusive thoughts started up again.

_She’s so pretty. Do you think she’d like flowers?_

He tried his damndest to ignore those thoughts.  _He_  hadn’t been around in years.

What was is about her that unburied him from where he’s shoved him down so long ago?

Ray had begun showing up again. And he fucking hated it. Ray was weak. Ray was a crybaby that let people walk all over him. He wasn’t like that. Fuck those people. He’d destroy them.

He’s cast off the mantle of Ray and instead became the Unknown.

But. Here.  _He. Was._

_Is this okay? Does she even really like us? I want her to like us._

**Doesn’t matter right now**. He’d thought back viciously. He ignored him, instead focusing on her, and how she felt underneath him. She let out a sharp gasp followed by a soft moan, and he grinned. The voice had gone silent.

He’d rolled off of her when they’d finished, closing his eyes to center himself. He always felt floaty afterwards, and while it was a pleasant feeling, he needed that control.

“Mm,” he looked over to see her lying next to him satisfied. She grinned lazily at him. “I need a bath.”

**_No_ **

The thought scared him with how forcefully it came from within him. And from Ray.

Despite that fear, he still moved, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close.

“No bath then?” She asked, and he nodded into her chest, not trusting himself to speak. She ran a hand through his hair. “You’re never this cuddly. Not that I mind.”

He could hear the smile in her voice, and a small part of him felt deeply pleased. The other part of him minded. He minded a lot.

~

He avoided her. Avoided her for as long as he could manage with a voice in his chest yearning for her company.

He’d finally shown up at her apartment, days later, knocking for once instead of using the key she’d gifted him.

“Oh. It’s you.” She said, surprise clear on her face. “You dipped out on me. I wasn’t sure you were coming back for a moment there.”

He frowned slightly, but continued in his awkwardness.

“I, um. Got you these.” He said quietly, shifting to reveal the bouquet he’d hidden behind his back. She gasped.

“They’re beautiful!” She said, taking them from him, eyes bright. “Lily of the Valley, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” He said, rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry ‘bout that…”

“It’s okay.” She said, then moved out of the way slightly. “You wanna come in?”

He only nodded again, following her into the apartment.

 _She liked them!_  Ray crowed.

 **Yeah. Good idea for once**. Was all he could say in return. She had definitely liked them.

He received a smug feeling in response and honestly? He could live with it.


	39. Chapter 39

“Ah, fuck.”

He had to laugh at her first words when she woke up. He glanced over from his spot in the bathroom door to see her sit up in the middle of her bed, wincing. 

“Hangover?” He asked, and she squinted over at him.

“Yeah…” She mumbled, then looked down at herself. “Well. I’m still wearing underwear, so we either didn’t do anything or you were surprisingly nice.”

“ **You don’t remember last night at all, do you?”**  He asked her.

“Not… really.” She said with a frown.

“I’ll let you figure it out then.” He said with a snort, as he walked into her kitchen. He began to dig through her fridge, picking out items that would make a good breakfast. 

It was probably better that she didn’t remember.

~

He’d arrived at her apartment after having getting a horrendously misspelled text from her. Considering her normal texting, this was slightly concerning.

He’d let himself in using the key she had given him, and wandered his way into her apartment. He found her sitting cross-legged in the floor of her kitchen, back pressed against the cabinets. The smell of vodka hit him hard.

“What are you doing?” He asked her, and she raised an eyebrow at him, lifting up her bottle. He rolled his eyes. “Obviously, but why?” 

“Felt empty.” She mumbled as she slowly lowered her bottle, eyes dropping to the floor. “Wanted to feel something. Fuzzy is better than nothing.”

 “So you decided to get wasted?” She shrugged at him.

“Hey, Unknown,” she started but then scrunched up her nose. “I hate calling you that. Why won’t you tell me your name?”

“Maybe when you’re sober.” He told her, offering her his hand to help her up. She smiled at him and hummed, taking his hand and pulling herself up, falling into his chest. 

“I really like you.” She mumbled against his chest, and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “Even though you might be using me.”

And there goes his smile. 

“Why do you think that?” He asked her. She snorted.

“Because I thought you liked me and then the first time we slept together you apparently did it for information. You didn’t want me. You don’t want me…” She trailed off, her eyes filling with tears.

“You think my feelings haven’t changed since then?” He asked, wrapping his arms around her. He really couldn’t deny that he’d become attached to her, that he cared about her a whole lot more than he ever expected to.

“Maybe.” She mumbled. He sighed.

“I’m not going to get anywhere with this.” He said softly, running a hand through her hair. He’ll try again in the morning. “You wanna go to bed?”

“Yes.” She mumbled, and he couldn’t stop his laughter as she immediately turned and pulled him into her room. He had to help her when she tried to get her shirt off and somehow managed to get stuck. She giggled as she laid down.

“Don’t leave.” She said, grabbing him as he turned to leave. He smiled softly, toed off his shoes and then after stripping down, he crawled into the bed with her. She instant curled into his side. 

He’d definitely try again in the morning.


	40. Chapter 40

He found that there wasn’t a lot he could do for her. She was the one providing him with food, she was the one giving him shelter, and she didn’t seem to really want anything back from him beside his company. 

He wasn’t sure what he could do, but he didn’t like feeling like he was useless. 

~

He hadn’t visited her in two days. A few weeks ago, that wouldn’t have worried her. Now? It did. He’d been at her apartment almost every day for the past week,

He’d finally shown up on the third day, face as impassive as ever.

“Where did you go?” She asked him, and he rolled his eyes. She frowned, turning away from him.

“Wait.” He mumbled, reaching out and touching her arm. He turned her back towards himself, nervously fidgeting with something. He let out a hesitant breath. “You’ve been cold recently, so…”

He held out a knitted scarf. It was clearly a novice’s work, but she could see the amount of effort that had been put into it.

“ **I made it. For you. I know it’s not the best, but…** ” She took it from his hands, wrapping it around her neck, the soft acrylic warming her.

“No. I love it.” She took his hand, smiling up towards him. His eyes grew wide, as if her hadn’t been expecting her to accept it. She pressed a kiss to his knuckles. “Thank you.”

“I know you just put it on,” Saeran said, voice turning sly. “But you want to take it off?”

She grinned, reaching up to pull his face down, kissing him deeply. She pulled back, only for a moment.

“I’d love to.”


	41. Chapter 41

There wasn’t a lot about him that scared her. A lot of his of initial intimidation tactics he attempted was a bravado he put on. She found that not reacting to it at all threw him off his track leaving him with seemingly no other plan than ti hover around until she became fond of him. There was only one time he’d actually managed to intimidate her, but it paled in comparison to this.

She’d been in her apartment, quite frankly ignoring her RFA duties. She’d worked all yesterday, she could take this time for herself. However, her time for herself was quickly cut short with a solid thud against her front door. 

She had jumped, and immediately made her way over, tugging the door open. She had to react quickly, as Unknown must have been leaning against the door, and he immediately fell in. He was trembling, and his skin was almost frozen.

“Hey!” She yelped, catching him in her arms. He clutched at her arm, and it was clear that he was only standing up thanks to her. “Are you okay?”

Even in the state he was in, he gave her a very dry look. She pulled him over to her couch, and laid him down. He didn’t let go of her arm, and urgently mumbled, “Bag… Flask…”

She knew exactly what he was talking about. She’d noticed when he’d left a few days ago that he’d left a bag behind. She figured it’d be fine to sit until he got back. It wasn’t like she had the ability to contact him other than to shout into the void of the RFA messenger.

It looked like she was wrong though. She ran over to where she’d placed the bag, yanking the flask out, and bringing it to him. He fumbled with the cap and she took it back from him, and opening it before handing it back. 

He threw whatever was in the flask back and leaned back, closing his eyes as whatever in the flask went through his system, causing his trembling to peter off. He peeked an eye open, and for a moment, she thought that the green of his eyes was more vibrant than ever. 

“Thanks.” He rasped out. 

“What the fuck was that?? What did you just drink??” She couldn’t stop the frantic tone in her voice.

“The Elixir of Salvation. Everyone at Mint Eye has taken it.” Unknown said, voice becoming almost reverent, and she felt her stomach drop. “The Savior made it for us. I forgot my bag here, and didn’t take the Elixir when I should have.”

“What’s it made of?” She asked him, and the look of confusion in his eyes filled her with dread.

“I don’t know. But the Savior wouldn’t give us anything that would cause us harm.” Unknown insisted. She nodded, trying to keep herself calm. She leaned forward, guiding him to lay back down on the couch. 

“You sleep for now. It’ll make you feel better.” She said lightly, running a hand through his hair. He smiled at her softly, and followed her instruction, drifting off as she watched. 

She sat there quietly, filled with dread. What the hell was he involved in? She knew it sounded like some cult shit, but really nothing he’d done had shown the length of his devotion to his “savior”.

But this. This Elixir that he took with blind faith frightened her. There wasn’t any doubt in her mind. He had been suffering from withdrawal; a withdrawal caused by missing a dosage by a few days.

He was deeper in this than she thought, and she was now just as involved. 


	42. Chapter 42

It suddenly hit him as he stood in her kitchen watching her as she made something for the two of them to eat. 

He realized that there wasn’t anywhere else he wanted to be. He realized that he hadn’t spoken to anyone in Magenta in almost two weeks. Including the Savior. He realized that he’d had no desire to even check in, the warmth and comfort of her apartment had him ensnared. 

He trusted her more than anyone else. The Savior hadn’t really even tried to check in on him. The initial week he’d been gone, she’d sent him a few messages, but other than that, it almost seemed that she didn’t notice the lack of his presence. 

In that moment he decided something. 

“MC?” He spoke softly, but she turned her attention to him, smiling. “I have something to tell you.”

Her face turned serious at the tone of his voice, turning back to the stove to turn off the burner so she could give him her full attention.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Her concern filled him with warmth. It was clear that she valued him more than for what he could do.

“Nothing’s wrong. Just something to tell you.” She tilted her head in curiosity. He smiled softly. “My name is Saeran.”

It clearly took her a moment for her to process what he said, but when she did her face lit up with joy. She reached out, cupping his face in her hands.

“Saeran…” She said, her tone full of wonder. He reached up and held her hand against his face. 

“I have something else to tell you.” He said with a smile. 

“If it’s anything like the last thing you told me, it’s gotta be good.” She teased him. He laughed lightly and leaned in, pressing a kiss to her lips.

“I love you.” He said softly as he pulled away. Her eyes immediately filled with tears. His eyes widened with surprise. “I’m- I’m sorr-”

“No. No no no.” She said laughing. “I’m just so happy. I love you too”

This warmth, her love. He never wanted to leave.


	43. Chapter 43

Despite the confidence he had in tell her his real name, he realized that he didn’t know how to be Saeran. It was a name he put away so long ago, taking up the mantle of Unknown, the anonymous source of strength that hid that scared little boy.

 She found him sitting next to her window and plopped down.

“Whatcha thinking about?” He glanced at her and smiled slightly as she offered him a mug of hot chocolate. She’d figured out his sweet tooth pretty early on.

“Being forgotten.” He said quietly, taking a sip from the mug.

“Forgotten?” She asked.

“I… I haven’t been Saeran in years. Just… Unknown. So who is he?” He said quietly.

“Hm. That’s a tough one.” She said softly, looking away from him and back to the window. “Saeran is whoever you want him to be. People change, despite the names attached to them. I’m different from who I was in high school. Does that not make me MC anymore?”

“No.” Saeran said.

“Then you’ve always been Saeran. That’s hasn’t changed. And if you’re afraid of being forgotten,” she looked at him, smile soft., “I promise that  **I will never forget about you.** ”

Saeran felt his a sob catch in his chest, and he hesitated slightly before his next question.

“So you don’t prefer one over the other?”

“No silly~  **You. I just need you right now**.” The sob fully escaped and he leaned into her.

“ **Will you just hold me?** ” He said quietly. She wrapped her arms around her, pulling him closely. She began to card her fingers through his hair. He nuzzled his face into her chest. 

“Whatever you need, love.” she said quietly. “Any time.”


	44. Chapter 44

He was having an issue. He laid there in thei-  _her_  bed, as her head was pillowed on his chest. He had no clue what time it was, but he slipped out from under her, and headed into her living room where his bag was. He pulled his flask out, and sat down on the couch. 

He stared at the flask in his hand. There was barely a swallow of elixir left in it, and he knew that the only way he’d be able to get more would be to go back to Mint Eye itself. 

That’s where he was conflicted. He knew what would happen if he didn’t take the elixir. That was why he’d stocked up on it the last time he’d run out. That desperation was something that he didn’t want to feel again, and he knew that he’d also frightened her with the way he’d burst into her apartment. 

He turned the flask over in his hand, still thinking. If he did go back to Mint Eye, there was a high possibility that the Savior wouldn’t let him come back. He knew that he had gone head first into compromising himself. 

He grinned to himself. God, how he’d gone head first. Just thinking of the cold monitors of his intelligence room compared to the warmth of her bed made him never want to go back. 

He clenched his fists around the flask. He wouldn’t go back. He wouldn’t give up what he’d found here.

“What’s wrong, babe?” He glanced over the back of the couch to see her standing there, wearing his shirt and very clearly barely awake. He smiled softly at her, but looked down slightly. He hesitantly lifted the flask up and she stilled. “Is that…?”

“Yeah.” He said quietly. “I’m out. I wanted you to know.”

She hesitated slightly, but walked around so that she was standing next to the couch. “What are you gonna do?”

“Suffer through. I don’t plan to go back to get more.” He said quietly. 

“You’re going to through withdrawal.” She said, concern filling her tone. 

“I know. But I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want to leave this, and I know if I do I most likely won’t be able to come back.” He told her, eyes deadly serious, and he took her hand, pulling her forward so she was standing between his knees. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but will you help me through that? It won’t be pretty.”

She smiled at him fondly, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I will do the best I can.”

He nodded, and then gently tugged on the hem of the shirt she was wearing and grinned. “You have my shirt.”

“You weren’t exactly wearing it.” She said, raising an eyebrow at him. He laughed, realizing that he’d gotten so comfortable with her and her apartment that he hadn’t even thought about how he’d been wandering around in only a pair of boxer briefs. She grinned in return, and tugged on his hand. “Let’s go back to bed. Your side got cold so I had to come after you.”

He allowed her to lead him off, and so they went back to their bed.


	45. Chapter 45

He hated her. He hadn’t realized it before now, but he hated her so much it hurt.

 _(The rational side of his mind told him that the pain was his body reacting to the absence of the elixir and that she wasn’t causing it, but the rest of his mind really didn’t care._ )

It was her fault. How would the Savior take him back now? He’d strayed so far from his mission, so far from the path the Savior had allowed him to walk.

All for one girl. One he’d been using, one he should have gotten rid of the second she declared that she wouldn’t be giving him information. But here he was, dying in her bed.

“Please, you need to eat.” His hazy mind caught onto the sudden words and he managed to open his eyes slightly. There she was, holding a bowl of broth. He noted that she looked concern, but that couldn’t be anything but a lie, right? If she was really concerned, she’d find him the elixir that he needed so much right now

“I’d rather die.” He mumbled, weakly making an attempt to shove the bowl away. She held it firmly, but looked more lost than he’d ever seen her.

 _Good_ , a small part of him felt. Let her suffer like I am.

“Why would you let me do this? Don’t you even give a shit about me?” He mumbled out, trying to keep eye contact with her. She took in a shuddering breath, and then reached forward to take hold of his weak hands.

“You may not believe it now, but after this shit gets out of your system everything will be better. No more pain. I promise.” She almost whispered the words and then let go and stood while placing the bowl on the bedside table. “Try to eat. I’ll be right back.”

And with that, she fled the room. The noise of the door shutting behind her was the loudest noise, but underneath there was a second noise.

It made part of him feel vindicated. She knew the pain he was going through and now she felt it. The other part of his was distressed. How could he? How could he possibly done that to the girl who had come to love him unconditionally?

The sound played over and over in his head.

The quiet beginnings of a sob.


	46. Chapter 46

He was tired when he woke up. Tired enough that he laid there awake, unable to move beyond slowly creaking his fingers open from the death grip he’d had on his blanket. Her blanket.

He sat up quickly at the thought of her, and it wasn’t just the withdrawal that made him feel sick to his stomach. Holy shit. He had said so many terrible things to her. Simply out of spite. He could blame the withdrawal, but it didn’t change the fact that  _he_  had been the one to say it.

He slowly glanced around the room as it would disprove the fact that he already knew. It was empty. He sighed, knowing that he would have to get up to find her.

As he moved to stand up on shaky legs, he realized two things. First, he was wearing a loose fitting pair of green plaid cotton pajama pants, and second, that he was wearing a pair of mittens. He stared down at his hands in confusion, completely unsure of when the mittens came into play, but when he stood up and could see himself in the mirror, Unknown got his answer as to why.

Long red lines of red streaked down his torso, glaringly obvious on his pale skin and next to the green. It was clear that a few of the spots he’d clawed into himself had broken skin. As he stared at them, the recollection of the horrific itching returned to him. He couldn’t get away from it, and he assumed that the only way she could prevent him from causing more damage to himself was to trap his fingers in a soft barrier.

He perked up slightly at the sound of her voice, and slowly made his way out of her room and towards the kitchen, where it sounded like she was on the phone.

“I know I haven’t been in the chatroom for the last week.” She sounded frustrated, and rubbed her face with her hand. She glanced up as she heard him come in the room, and smiled at him softly. Whoever was on the other end of the phone must have spoken again, because she basically glared at the receiver. “I told you. I’m taking care of a sick friend. And if that’s enough to kick me out of the RFA, even though I’ve done everything else asked of me, so be it.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, and she rolled her eyes, mouthing the word “seven”

“It’s my friend from high school. Chill.” And at that Unknown coughed, pitifully, but loud enough that the phone would hear him. She grinned. “I gotta go. Patient needs my attention.” She hung up the phone giving him her full attention. “Good morning, sunshine~”

“Good morning…” he mumbled, unsure of how to approach her. “I’m… I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She said softly, walking over and gently cupping his cheek. “Addiction is a hell of a thing, and sometimes we say things that we know will hurt.”

“But I don’t want to hurt you. Ever again.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” She said with a smile. He pulled her into a hug and he buries his face into her hair. Never again. He would do his damndest.

The quiet moment was broken as his stomach growled, causing her to giggle into his shoulder.

“You hungry?” She teased him as she pulled away. He pouted, but nodded regardless.

“Can I have some toast?” She grinned at him, and set to work. Unknown smiled softly to himself. This was what he wanted to protect.


	47. Chapter 47

He’d forgotten what it felt like to be afraid for another person’s life and this was a reminder he’d never wanted to get.

Saeran was outside of her apartment, leaning against his car, having arrived at the time they had agreed on. He’d finally told her his name, and in return she wanted to go on a date. An actual date.

But she never came down. He called her, not thinking much of it, ready to tease her for being late.

“MC, did you forget something?” He asked when the phone finally picked up. There was silence. “MC?”

“I’m sorry, but I won’t be there.” She said and he froze. Her voice was wrong, stilted as if she was reading something.

“MC. Where are you?” He didn’t even need her answer, already knowing what had happened.

“I had a meeting at paradise.” Her voice lilted in confusion as she read the last word. “Don’t worry though. They’ll take care of me.”

“Tell me where you are.” He said, knowing that she probably wouldn’t be able to. He phrased his next statement as an offer. “I’ll come get you.”

“No. I never want to see you again.” There was a pause. “You piece of shit.”

He heard her make a pained noise and then a slight “don’t add things!” before the call dropped.

He jumped back into the car, taking off without much care for anything else, headed towards the RFA apartment.

The last words were her own. They sounded more like her than the rest of the conversation did. He regretted that their inside joke had to be used like this.

_It had been early in their relationship. She’d met up with him in his hotel room for their normal activities, and being honest, he couldn’t remembered what he’d done but she’d suddenly looked at him and laughed._

“ _You’re such a piece of shit!” She said and he turned and glared at her, sitting cross legged on the bed._

“ _Don’t call me that.” He warned her. “Unless you want me to come over there.”_

_He’d meant it as a threat, but her grin became sly. She opened up her arms to him, still grinning_

“ _Then come here, you shit.” His only response was to push her over as she giggled the entire time._

“You piece of shit” had turned into their “Come and get me.” He realized it was weird, but it worked for them.

He pulled into the lot for the RFA apartment, then pulled out his laptop from the back seat, quickly hacking into the messenger.

Unknown: Listen. I know none of you have any reason to trust me, but MC is in danger rn and I can’t save her.

Unknown: Help.

Unknown: Please.

Zen: !!!

Zen: The hacker!

707: Fuck.


	48. Chapter 48

He waited in front of the RFA apartment for the redhead to arrive. For the moment, he was the only one they trusted to send. Saeran understood their thought process, but he really didn’t want to have to interact with Saeyoung.

The only thing that would get him through this interaction was the desperate need to rescue MC.

“I’m guessing you’re Unknown?” The voice he hadn’t heard in years was suddenly there, and he jumped slightly. Saeran looked up, and there he was, eyes guarded, but tone friendly.

“Do you see anyone else with their hood up and a balaclava?” He asked, pleased that the voice modulator in the face mask still worked. 

“I suppose not.” Saeyoung said lightly. “I have a few questions though.”

“Hurry and ask then. I’d like to get to MC as soon as possible.” Saeran said harshly and Saeyoung’s friendly look dropped.

“How do you know MC?” Saeran couldn’t stop himself from laughing.

“I literally brought her to you. Did you think she found the apartment on her own?” Saeyoung scowled at him, but Saeran didn’t care. It was a stupid question.

“Do you have any idea where she is?” 

“Somewhat.” Saeran said, pulling his computer out, pulling up maps. “You’ve received invitations to Paradise, correct?”

“They have something to do with this?” Saeyoung asked, eyes quickly scanning over the map and it’s pinned locations.

“I work for them. I’ve been… distracted recently, so I’m pretty sure my boss told them to remove my distraction.” Saeran said, unsure of how much information to divulge, knowing that his twin wouldn’t believe who the leader of Mint Eye was.

“So it’s your fault.” Saeyoung said plainly, and Saeran flinched.

“That’s why I need the RFA’s help. They’ll be expecting me.” Saeran said

“I need to contact V. He needs to know what’s going on.” Saeyoung pulled out his phone, but Saeran grabbed his arm, stopping him.

“I have no doubt he already knows.” Saeran spat out, unable to hide his feelings about the traitor.

“Why would V know?” Saeyoung asked him, eyes narrow with suspicion. To hell with it, Saeran thought,

“His fiancee is the one that ordered it be done.” He said, and Saeyoung’s eyes widened. 

“She’s dead.” He said back, but when Saeran remained silent, he simply whispered “Fuck.”

“So are you going to help me or not?” Saeran asked, almost physically feeling the time slip away from him.

“Why do you care about her so much?” Saeyoung’s question caught him off guard, and he let go of his arm.

“She… was a tool. But then she became so much more.” Saeran said softly, but then looked up at his twin, “I love her.”

Saeyoung sucked in a breath, but turned back to the maps. 

“Help me make a plan then.” Saeran felt a tension break, and joined him.

“Thank you.” Saeran said quietly. Saeyoung glanced over at him.

“Will you tell me who you are?” Saeran laughed quietly to himself, the laugh making a distorted sound through the modulator. This proved to him beyond a doubt that the “unbreakable bond” between twins was bullshit.

“When we find her.” Was all he said, and Saeyoung nodded. Saeran began to pull more information, with a quiet whisper mostly meant for himself.

“We’re coming. Please be okay.”


	49. Chapter 49

 “And so my poor, lost lamb returns to the fold.” It amazed Saeran how much her voice affected him. The voice that once signified safety now instilled a fear within him.

“Savior.” He nodded towards her, standing in front of her throne. He couldn’t stop himself from glancing at MC, sitting quietly at Rika’s feet, hands tied in front of her. He was by himself, with Saeyoung waiting outside, listening through the phone Saeran currently had in his pocket.

“My dear, you should be out looking for another way to get information from the RFA.” Rika suddenly reached down, grabbing MC by her hair and shoving her forward. “Your last try has obviously failed.”

“Let her go.” Saeran said, trying to keep his voice even, no matter how much he wanted to run forward and grab MC from her side. Despite hitting the floor, MC barely made a noise and simply glared up at Rika as she pushed herself up again. 

“You know that she can’t leave. She’s going to be cleansed, and so will you.” Rika’s voice was sweet as if she was simply talking about the weather.

“She doesn’t know anything.” Saeran spat out and froze as Rika stood up, and began to walk towards him. 

“I should have taken your brother.” Her voice was cold, and she shifted her hand out from underneath her robe, revealing the gun that she held and pointed it at him. “After I take care of you, I think I’ll go collect him.”

Several things happened at once. The believer that had been standing on the other side of the throne lurched forward, arm reaching for Rika, as if to stop her. He wasn’t as fast as MC, who was suddenly behind Rika, wrapping her bound hands around Rika’s neck from behind, choking her. 

“Don’t you fucking touch him.” MC hissed at Rika, yanking backwards with her hands, tightening the hold she had on her neck. She couldn’t see the deranged grin that suddenly filled Rika’s face.

“Oh, I never planned on  _touching_  him.” And with that, she took aim and pulled the trigger in a split second. 

The sudden yell of “Rika, no!” and who yelled it registered in his mind before the pain did. The believer had been V, Saeran realized, always one step behind in trying to protect him.

Pain flooded his chest as he looked down, watching the blood stain flow across his shirt. The moment felt like it was taking forever as he fell back. Through the pain blurring his vision, he watched as MC threw Rika to the ground, running to try and catch him. 

“Hey.” She was speaking to him, and he tried his best to focus on her face as she held his head in her lap. “Saeran, love, please. Stay with me. You can’t leave me now.” 

He wasn’t sure it was just the pain in his chest, but he felt his heartbreak. He couldn’t do what she wanted him to do. All he could do was barely press his face into her stomach, closing his eyes. 

“Saeran!” He heard Saeyoung yell, and felt himself relax. Saeyoung was here. Saeyoung would protect her. There wasn’t anything else Saeran could do.

And with that, Saeran felt himself slip away.


	50. Chapter 50

She was numb. They’d managed to rush Saeran to a hospital, only for him to be whisked away by the staff, leaving her and Seven standing in the waiting room. 

She had glanced over at him, so full of questions, but the distress on his face made her put those aside. She reached out, touching him on the shoulder. 

“Hey,” she said quietly, and Saeyoung slowly pulled his gaze away from the door that Saeran had disappeared through. “He’s gonna be okay. He’s gonna make it.”

Saeyoung nodded slowly, then collapsed in a chair. “So, how do you you know Saeran?” 

“Remember my friend from high school?” She asked, snorting slightly. He nodded, before his eyes grew large with understanding.  

“Not exactly a high school friend, huh?” He asked her.

“Nope.” She said with a laugh. “Are you his brother?”

He flinched, but nodded anyway

“I thought so. He talked about you occasionally. Not sure why I didn’t put this together until now.” She mumbled.

“You got there.” Saeyoung said with a laugh.

~

She found herself sitting at his bedside, his hand clasped within her own. He’d gotten through surgery, but had been medically induced into a coma. According to the doctor, he should wake up any time soon.

“Hey,” She mumbled, talking to him despite being unsure if he could even hear her. “If you don’t wake up, **I’ll never forgive you.** ”

There was silence in response, and she put her head down. There was stillness for a moment, but jumped, lifting her head back up when she felt a sudden touch to the top of her head. Her eyes grew wide when she realized that it was Saeran’s fingers moving. 

His eyes cracked open slightly.

“You’ll have to forgive me.” Saeran whispered, though his voice cracked, “Because  **I will always protect you.** ”

Her eyes instantly teared up and she leaned forward, pressing their clasped together hands to her forehead. 

“You can’t do that, you dummy.” She mumbled, leaning up and pressing her lips to his fingers. “I need you here. With me.”

“Forever?” His voice was quiet, and hesitant. She smiled.

“Of course.” She said in return, warmth filling her chest as he smiled, no matter how small it was. “ **Forever.** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And at 50 chapters, that's all I got folks. I hope you enjoy, and if you want more, drop by [ edgelord-saeran](%E2%80%9Dedgelord-saeran.tumblr.com%E2%80%9D) on tumblr and say hey. I love getting asks;)


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